New on DVD/Blu-ray: Getaway (2013)

Courtney Solomon’s “Getaway” is not to be confused with Sam Peckinpah’s 1972 movie “The Getaway”, or the 1994 Roger Donaldson remake starring Alec Baldwin, or the more recent 2009 thriller “A Perfect Getaway” by David Twohy. 2013’s “Getaway” is more “Fast and Furious” than caper film, and depending on your need for speed — you have one, right? — the film might just be up your alley. Just in case you fall into that category, “Getaway” speeds onto DVD/Blu-ray this November 26th.

Former race car driver Brent Magna (Hawke) is pitted against the clock. Desperately trying to save the life of his kidnapped wife, Brent commandeers a custom Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake, taking it and its unwitting owner (Gomez) on a high-speed race against time, at the command of the mysterious villain holding his wife hostage.

The best part about Courtney Solomona’s vehicular thriller is, without a doubt, watching Ethan Hawke (as the improbably named Brent Magna) driving a car. Because when you think Hollywood stuntman, you think the guy from “Before Sunrise” and “Reality Bites”. No, really. Okay, maybe not so much. But at least Hawke has the facial hair for it, and the fact he’s trying to save his wife makes his impromptu team-up with teen delinquent Selena Gomez less creepy. Could you imagine if they had forced a romance between the two? Yikes. Creep city.

“Getaway” is not what you would call a great movie, but it certainly delivers on its promise of vehicular chaos. The film is chock full of cars going fast, bullets flying, and Ethan Hawke behind the wheel of a bullet proof Mustang. (I want one of that!) So in that respect, the film does exactly what its ads promised. Jon Voight plays the heavy, a mysterious villain on the other end of a phone who commands Brent Magna to do criminal things, or else. I’ve never seen Gomez in anything except her Disney shows, but she’s only a little annoying as, essentially, a less threatening version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

There is a great scene where we see one of the film’s many car chases from the hood of a car. It’s fantastic stuff, and it’s too bad the rest of the movie doesn’t quite match that level of awesome. But overall, if you were looking at a less series-involved film in the vein of the “Fast and Furious” movies, “Getaway” should suffice. It’s certainly not any smarter, but it’s also not any dumber than the last six “Fast and Furious” movies.

If you’re buying the Blu-ray, it will be pretty much for the movie. The disc is very short on extras, coming with only a handful of featurettes, including “Crash Cams”, “Destroying a Custom Shelby”, “Metal and Asphalt”, “Selena Gomez: On Set”, and “The Train Station”. Decent waste of times, but nothing you couldn’t do without.